Happy birthday, in case I forget tomorrow!
1) Do I have the right to assume a label of "Autism" that others with a greater need might require? Do I even have the right to an opinion on the whole question of a cure, one way or the other? If I begin to claim this label, might it have an effect on their ability to claim certain services?
a) Autism's a huge pool, containing lots of different types of people - there's no shortage of the number of people that can be called autistic. This means that using the label has no effect on other people, so use the word if you want to.
The categories that would have an effect on other people are things like "needs housing accomodation", "requires disability pensions", "needs access to support services", etc - these are categories that people should think long and hard about before committing to, as there are limited resources of these things.
Autism, while occasionally related to these things, is not the same at all, as there are no requirements for autism itself. If anything, acknowledging that the reasons for some of your behaviors may occasionally be similar to the reasons for other autistic peoples behavior can only help to humanise others.
b) You have a right to an opinion on an autism cure no matter who you are - the same way that people that aren't from a minority race have a right to an opinion on racism. These issues are bigger than groups, they're about being human.
3) Is my condition evident in my writings? Is there some way someone can tell from listening to me? How evident is it in my behavior?
Nope - at least, not in these posts. There's some things that may subtly indicate autistic behavior, but generally I don't think it's possible to diagnose someone over the internet. It might be evident in offline behavior, though...
4) Are my peculiarities simply peculiar, or are they "stimming"?
Yes - though I should point out that NT's can "stim" too, so it's not necessarily proof of autism. We just tend to do it more often.
5) Would my Autistic charge be better served with an NT attendant?
Nope - I don't think neurotype makes a good teacher, it's the teaching that makes a good teacher. Given I don't know what sort of a teacher you are, all I can say is that you can't tell a good teacher by knowing which neurotype category they belong to.
6) I do not know a whole lot about "savantism." Forgive my ignorance. Yet, I had a childhood interest in Astronomy, Mathematics, Science, and other subjects that began at age six. Is six young? Again, this is not a boast. It is a question. My tendency is to believe that the label of "savantism" would not describe me. However, I am not an expert on the matter. Maybe my resistance to this concept has more to do with preconceived notions of what "savantism" means, stereotypical notions that are not real. I cannot say.
Savantism is an amazing talent in one particular area only. I don't think there's any hard and fast definition of what qualifies as an "amazing talent", though.
I'd suggest that interest is not the same as ability, however. Did you have a naturally intuitive talent for numbers, or just an ability borne of being interested in the subject?
7) How does the diagnosis of "Asperger" change anything fundamental? To be honest, I was diagnosed with Asperger and not Autism, by a doctor who seems to believe in a strong distinction between the two. However, does either label change anything truly fundamental?
The only difference is that you had no childhood delay in language or developmental stages as a child. The reason most of us consider it to be the same as autism is that we're adults now, so the abilities we had as children aren't very relevant now.
8) Is this whole movement in my life to uncover the truth about Autism genuine self-discovery? Can it be used as a distraction? An excuse?
Could be any of the above, really. If the label's helpful or useful, then use it, if it isn't, don't.
9) Is there a kind of covert NT movement against us? Another forum participant has suggested some concepts along these lines that may seem outlandish. However, I have often suspected that there is some unconscious, albeit perhaps not "telepathic," knowledge among NT's that I am somehow different, to be opposed or else to be laughed at. Now, to be sure, I am not labeling all NT's as conspirators. What I am suggesting is that we carry unconscious responses within us that can be activated by the right person. We just "hate" some person, and we do not know why. Have you ever wondered why you hate someone? Perhaps there would be less hatred if people would simply ask why they hate.
Nope - there's an entirely non-covert NT movement against us, organised by such organisations as autism speaks. There is also a subconscious desire to pick on people that don't fit in, but this isn't the same as an organised movement.
For me, usually I can trace actual "hate" back to a definite thing - though it's very rare for me to hate someone. Usually the response is to "be annoyed by" or "not like spending time with" a person - and even these are usually for entirely traceable reasons.
For NT's, the thing you are referring to is that people give off body language signals that say "I am one of you", and autistic people have difficulty in replicating these signals. This is usually why autistic people are more likely to be subjected to bullying.
10) Are there counselors out there who are not out to "fix" me? It might be fun to fix a person as some kind of project. However, I am a person, and a person is qualitatively different than a mechanism.
Yep, there's good ones out there...
Hope that's useful!
. 